Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The following Google Earth kmz files are available for you to download. These files were a test of the download technology we are using. All 9 files are included in the comprehensive Book of Mormon Model. Google Earth, available free of charge here, must be installed on your computer in order for you to open these files.

Image of the Mesoamerican Rivers kmz file rendered in GoogleEarth. To download this file, click on the link below.

Mesoamerican Rivers. Last Updated July 23, 2012 with the addition of the Tapanal and the Sacsi north west of Guatemala City in the vicinity of the proposed waters of Mormon. Rivers were the highways of the ancient world. In order to understand the Book of Mormon environment, one must have a good grasp of major drainage basins in the area. This Google Earth file plots dozens of river systems, with particular emphasis on the Usumacinta (shown in red), Grijalva (shown in blue) and Motagua (shown, along with all other rivers, in yellow). This file represents hundreds of hours of work and although quite useful, is still incomplete.
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Image of the Isthmian Continental Divide kmz file rendered inGoogle Earth. To download this file, click on the link below.

Isthmian Continental Divide. Last Updated June 27, 2012. A great deal of action in The Book of Mormon takes place in a narrow strip along the west coast and in the interface zone between the land southward and the land northward. In order to understand travel routes in this isthmian area straddling the modern Mexican states of Oaxaca and Chiapas, it is important to locate the ridge line separating Pacific and Atlantic watersheds. This Google Earth file plots the continental divide (shown in black) with representative elevation placemarks.
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Image of the Isthmian Railroad kmz file rendered in Google Earth.To download this file, click on the link below.

Isthmian Railroad. Last updated July 23, 2012 with color change from yellow to magenta to provide better visual contrast when overlaid with Mesoamerican Rivers. Since railroad track engineers are limited to gentle grades and wide curves, rail routes tend to make effective use of any given topography. This Google Earth file plots the rail line (shown in magenta) from Pijijiapan, Chiapas through the Isthmian part of Oaxaca and northward into Veracruz. The red circle indicates an area of particular interest where the Sierra Madre extends almost to the Pacific shoreline.
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Image of the Olmec Sites kmz file rendered in Google Earth.To download this file, click on the link below.

Olmec Sites. Last Updated July 5, 2012. The Olmec have long been considered the mother culture of Mesoamerica. An Egyptian - Olmec Connection has now been firmly established (see the article "Book Notice - Exodus Lost by Stephen C. Compton" in this blog). The Book of Mormon Jaredites were to some extent coeval and coterminus with the Olmec. This Google Earth file plots 75 Olmec and heavily Olmec-influenced sites (orange pyramid icons).
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Zoque Sites. Last Updated July 14, 2012. The Zoque, derived from the Olmec, were a powerful regional culture headquartered at Chiapa de Corzo from ca. 900 B.C. to ca. 400 B.C. The large blue polygon represents their area of influence at apogee. The smaller blue polygon is the region in Chiapas known as La Frailesca, an area closely associated with the Zoque in late pre-classic times. This Google Earth file plots 16 Zoque sites (red pyramid icons).
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Image of the Izapan Sites kmz file rendered in Google Earth.To download this file, click on the link below.

Izapan Sites. Last Updated July 14, 2012. Izapa is a stylistically important site in the Soconusco Region (blue polygon) of Chiapas and Guatemala. Oriented to the towering volcanic peaks Tacana and Tajumulco, Izapa, which flourished ca. 300 B.C., is transitional between the Olmec and the Maya. It is generally considered the birthplace of the Maya calendar. This Google Earth file, based on the research of V. Garth Norman, plots 40 sites with Izapan influence (brown pyramid icons).

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Image of the Teotihuacan Sites kmz file rendered in Google Earth.To download this file, click on the link below.

Teotihuacan Sites. Last Updated July 16, 2012. Teotihuacan, in central Mexico near present-day Mexico City, began its ascendancy ca. 100 B.C. For the next 600 years, it was the most powerful military, economic and cultural force in Mesoamerica. This Google Earth file plots 17 sites with strong Teotihuacan influence (black pyramid icons).
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Image of the Ancient Maya World kmz file (partial content) rendered inGoogle Earth. To download this file, click on the link below.

Ancient Maya World. Last Updated July 16, 2012. The brilliant Maya civilization began ca. 1,500 B.C. and reached its classic period zenith ca. A.D. 600 - 800. Several thousand ancient Maya sites are known to science. This Google Earth file contains a variety of spatial data sets that help one visualize the ancient Maya.

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Image of the Known Travels kmz file rendered in Google Earth.To download this file, click on the link below.

Known Travels. Last updated July 16, 2012. A key metric in The Book of Mormon is one day's travel. In order to derive a working approximation for this standard measure, we analyzed 19 pre-industrial journeys throughout southern Mesoamerica (See the blog article "Land Southward Travel Times.") This Google Earth file plots these 19 known historical journeys. And, this Excel spreadsheet contains the distance calculations. To download the xlsx file, click on the link above and then click on File followed by Download.
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